What bigger way to start the conference season than against your biggest rival?

That will be the case on Friday when the No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino volleyball team begins CCAA play with a 7 p.m. match at Coussoulis Arena against old nemesis UC San Diego, which is ranked No. 4.

The Coyotes are 7-0 and the Tritons 8-0. (They should be 9-0 after beating Cal State East Bay later tonight).

The two teams don’t really like each other which is usually the case when teams have a storied rivalry. But the teams do respect each other and that’s what is important.

Cal State played in a tournament at UCSD last weekend and although they didn’t play each other, you can bet they were sizing each other up.

This match is more important for the Coyotes than the Tritons because they are playing at home and need to hold serve.

Beating the Tritons in San Diego later this year will be even harder than ever before because this year CCAA newcomer East Bay is San Diego’s travel partner. And the Coyotes get them on the back end of the doubleheader, meaning they will play at East Bay, up in Hayward, on Friday and go all the way South to San Diego for them match the next night. That’s quite a haul.

San Diego is going to have that advantage every time it plays at home because of that scenario. It’s a luxury the Coyotes will never have because its travel partner is Cal Poly Pomona. So opponents aren’t going to be that taxed getting from one venue to the other.

The Coyotes need to issue the first blow!

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